This is a discussion on "A" rated RI politician submits a VERY anti gun bill, what's up with this??? within the The Second Amendment & Gun Legislation Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; Paul Fogarty of district 23 in the RI Senate was rated "A" by the NRA-PVF before the last election when he ran as an incumbent. ...

Paul Fogarty of district 23 in the RI Senate was rated "A" by the NRA-PVF before the last election when he ran as an incumbent. He has submitted a bill to change RI law 11-47-11 from Shall Issue to May Issue. There is currently another avenue to get a CCW license, but this is through the AG who is also May Issue and getting a license from the AG can sometimes be difficult. So, we might be going from one May Issue and one Shall Issue authority to two May Issue authorities....
Many chiefs choose not to follow the law and doesn't issue (even though several of the Chiefs have been taken to court and lost) or they have requirements that can not be met. I have called and sent emails to Fogarty to try to get him to explain the bill, but he is not returning my emails/calls. I am sure he is not the only politician who has not earned his NRA rating and I'd like to hear if anyone else has any similar experiences.Here is the bill that was introduced.

It doesn't appear that legislative changes are necessary for this one chief who has the following requirement in the application:

Lincoln Police department requires a psychological evaluation administered by a psychologist employed by the University of Rhode Island Psychological testing Service, and the expense of the test shall be borne by the applicant. In addition, an authorization to release of personal information must be signed. The disclosure of records include educational institutions, financial and credit institutions, including records of deposits, withdrawals and balances of checking and savings accounts, and loans, and also the records of commercial and retail credit agencies (including credit reports, and/or ratings), medical and psychiatric treatment and/or consultation, including hospitals, clinics, private practitioners, and the US Veteran's Administration, public utility companies, employment and pre-employment records, including background reports, efficiency ratings, complaints or grievances filed by or against me, and salary records whenever filed etc...

The best part is that the Psych test he refers to doesn't even exists...

Grasseater // Grass~eat~er noun, often attributive \ˈgras-ē-tər\
A person who is incapable of independent thought; a person who is herd animal-like in behavior; one who cannot distinguish between right and wrong; a foolish person.See also Sheep

The bill doesn't have any co sponsors so I doubt it will get much support. It's not scheduled for a hearing yet either, but I will definitely keep an eye on the bill.
It just ticks me off when they do this. What makes it worse is that the rumor is (I am trying to get it confirmed) that it was the Attorney General, who is the other licensing authority (May Issue) in addition to the local police chiefs, who asked the bill to be introduced. In a radio interview during the election, the AG (Kilmartin) promised he would look into why some chiefs weren't following the law when it came to issuing permits. Not only has he not folllowed up on that, but he is trying to change the legislation in favor of the chiefs....

Some politicians say what they think you want to hear to get elected...then they do whatever they please when in office.

He got enough votes to put him in office.

Some of them sell their souls to the Devil for a little fame and noteriety but the day will come that they have to account for their actions. On that day, no amount of wealth,fame,status,or any earthly thing will matter.

Some politicians say what they think you want to hear to get elected...then they do whatever they please when in office.

He got enough votes to put him in office.

Some of them sell their souls to the Devil for a little fame and noteriety but the day will come that they have to account for their actions. On that day, no amount of wealth,fame,status,or any earthly thing will matter.

It's my understanding that RI has never been a very "pro-gun rights" state as far as their legislators go. I found his NRA "A" rating to be dubious at best. It may be "A" rated compared to the others in the state, but proffering a bill like that would not come from a true "A" rated politician.

Grasseater // Grass~eat~er noun, often attributive \ˈgras-ē-tər\
A person who is incapable of independent thought; a person who is herd animal-like in behavior; one who cannot distinguish between right and wrong; a foolish person.See also Sheep

And I still have no regrets of leaving that cesspool of a state, corruption runs so rampant that that bill does not surprise me the least bit. Of course it is also the only state I know of where the county sheriffs do not patrol, they only provide court house security and split prison transport with the state marshals.

Add a rider to the bill requiring the same test for drivers permits (and permit renewals), and lets see how far it gets. After all, road rage is a growing problem!!

That's a good one to take a psych test to get a driver's license! Or how about taking a psych test to run for any office...
The psych test is not part of the requirements in the RI statutes, but just something some chiefs have added to prevent you from applying since the test is not even available. Their excuse is that they need something to determine if you are a "suitable" person to be carrying a firearm. It's unfortunate that this word is in the statutes...

§ 11-47-11 License or permit to carry concealed pistol or revolver. – (a) The licensing authorities of any city or town shall, upon application of any person twenty-one (21) years of age or over having a bona fide residence or place of business within the city or town, or of any person twenty-one (21) years of age or over having a bona fide residence within the United States and a license or permit to carry a pistol or revolver concealed upon his or her person issued by the authorities of any other state or subdivision of the United States, issue a license or permit to the person to carry concealed upon his or her person a pistol or revolver everywhere within this state for four (4) years from date of issue, if it appears that the applicant has good reason to fear an injury to his or her person or property or has any other proper reason for carrying a pistol or revolver, and that he or she is a suitable person to be so licensed. The license or permit shall be in triplicate in form to be prescribed by the attorney general and shall bear the fingerprint, photograph, name, address, description, and signature of the licensee and the reason given for desiring a license or permit and in no case shall it contain the serial number of any firearm. The original shall be delivered to the licensee. Any member of the licensing authority, its agents, servants, and employees shall be immune from suit in any action, civil or criminal, based upon any official act or decision, performed or made in good faith in issuing a license or permit under this chapter.

(b) Notwithstanding any other chapter or section of the general laws of the state of Rhode Island, the licensing authority of any city or town shall not provide or release to any individual, firm, association or corporation the name, address, or date of birth of any person who has held or currently holds a license or permit to carry a concealed pistol or revolver. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the release of any statistical data of a general nature relative to age, gender and racial or ethnic background nor shall it be construed to prevent the release of information to parties involved in any prosecution of § 11-47-8 or in response to a lawful subpoena in any criminal or civil action which the person is a party to that action.

The law is actually pretty strong is RI and it's backed up with Case Law. The problem is when the issuing authority (Chief of Police) choose not to follow the law. Suing them costs thousands of dollars, and not everybody is willing to spend that kind of money...